What you can do.
With a basic PPL A (Aeroplane) You can fly a single engined piston aircraft in visual meteorlogical conditions (not in cloud basically) and not in the dark. You can fly to all sorts of places for whatever reason you like:
Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Scotland, Belgium......blah blah blah.
You can add other qualifications (most of them known as ratings) to your PPL, things like:
Multi Engine
IMC (Instrument meteorlogical conditions), which basically lets you fly in cloud.
IR (Insturment rating) similar to above but a lot more training and privelages.
Night Qualification (lets you fly in the dark).
Sea Plane rating
If you have a job where you travel a lot you could fly yourself to work like some of us here do (and claim the cost back from your employer if they let you).
What you cant do:
Fly for hire or reward or gain. So basically you cant make a profit from passengers, but you can charge them an equal share of the fuel cost. If someone said "If you take me to France I will pay for you to a have weeks holiday" then that would be illegal as it is a gain to you.
Other than it is a great privelage to have a license and the start of a bottomless financial pit that you will absolutley enjoy throwing money in.